The Case of Simultaneous Submission: “Flying too Close to the Sun”

I the hallowed halls of academia, peer-reviewed publication is the “bitcoin” of the realm. The more you have, the higher your “worth.” Publication is the most important metric by which promotion and tenure committees determine whether a faculty member is promoted. In many institutions, the phrase “publish or perish” is not an abstract concept, it is a stark reality. Publication also is an important factor in assessing the qualifi cations of an investigator in a grant application. Moreover, publications bring favorable publicity, prestige and by extension, donations, to a department or an institution. Given the high stakes involved, it should come as no surprise that sometimes authors and investigators “cross the line” in trying to accumulate these precious “bitcoins.” Several months ago, the Journal, was informed by a reviewer of a manuscript that she had just reviewed an identical paper for another journal. Virtually every scientifi c journal does not allow simultaneous submission. In the Journal, this prohibition is explicitly stated in the instructions to authors, “Manuscripts must not be concurrently submitted to any other publication, print or electronic.”1 Although one could plead ignorance by indicating that they had forgotten to read the instructions to authors, the cover letter to the Journal for the manuscript in question stated “This manuscript has not been published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.” Thus, not only did the authors simultaneously submit their paper to two different journals, they were untruthful. After consultation with some of the other editors and some members of the editorial board of the Journal, I instituted a 2 year ban on submissions The Case of Simultaneous Submission: “Flying too Close to the Sun”